Look at Life: The Cinema Steps Out

Mark Jenkin explores his fascination with the magic of film and its life-giving properties in this brand new short film, commissioned by the BFI to mark the Film on Film Festival.

In the excitement of the roaring 20s, a new kind of movie palace was constructed by the Bay. More than 90 years later, Tampa Theatre has become known as one of the most haunted buildings in the city, This Documentary uncovers the rich history and explores the unexplained events with a Team of Historians, Ghost Hunters and Staff.

When the UK's oldest working cinema opened in 1909, it took five years to train a projectionist - a century later, it takes less than an hour. The Last Projectionist charts the amazing history of UK independent cinema, taking a tour of some of the most magical picture houses in the world, all centred around The Electric in Birmingham, the oldest working cinema in Britain.

The portrait of the last cowboy Hollywood legend dives into the 65 years of an extraordinary career in Hollywood, highlighted iconic films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, as well as Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River and Gran Torino all the way to Cry Macho in 2021. It is no small task to cover more than 60 years of cinema history, especially when it is trying to surveyed with such breadth and diversity: TV star, international star, controversial icon, contested director, filmmaker with a capital F, Eastwood has been through it all, experienced it all, and it is first of all this romantic trajectory, this true American pastoral that the documentary wants to tell with all the passion it possibly can.

"Remembering Arthur is a feature-length documentary about an influential yet little-known Canadian filmmaker. Although the Montreal-born artist's work won many awards and received an Oscar nomination, his life ended tragically in suicide. This intimate portrait explores Lipsett's creative genius and impact on film while illuminating his fascinating life story. The film is directed by filmmaker Martin Lavut, Arthur's closest friend."

Paris, Latin Quarter. A small cinema that is both famous and marginal, Action Christine. The cashier has taken her camcorder and takes us to this public place, her workplace. Place of life, of passage, of meeting, a window open on the street, behind the hygienic phone, it is the daily life of the cashiers and the openers punctuated by the alternation of surging entrances and idle intersession.

An 11-year old vendor of pirated copies of films in a downtown capital tries every possible way in his position to watch a film for the very first time inside the comfort of a cinema.

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Peter von Kant, a successful, famous director, lives with his assistant Karl, whom he likes to mistreat and humiliate. Through the great actress Sidonie, he meets and falls in love with Amir, a handsome young man of modest means. He offers to share his apartment and help Amir break into the world of cinema. Several months later, Amir becomes a star. But as soon as he acquires fame, he breaks up with Peter, leaving him alone to face himself.

On a dark and rainy night, a historic and regal Taipei cinema sees its final film: 1967 martial arts feature "Dragon Inn". As the film plays, the lives of the theater's various employees and patrons intersect, and two ghostly actors arrive to mourn the passing of an era.

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A man breaks into people's houses at night and observes them, without stealing or violating anything. He simply looks, putting himself in their positions and searching for something he has lost within him, but not thinking that he could be being watched too.

While shooting a film in a small town, a famous actor puts his personal life and career in jeopardy by starting an intense affair with another man.

A short comedy directed by Ron Dyens.

A young woman is the embodiment of an abandoned cinema, watching and being watched all along.

Cinema clerks Silva and Felix work the final night before their beloved cinema is demolished by private investors. An empty final screening allows them to reflect on the meaning of cinema in an age wherein art no longer occupies physical space.

Pierr is a young gay dress maker who lives with his younger brother in a gay porn cinema. He works in a small textile factory in order to save up some money and move to another place. After being fired because of a series of rumors about his sexuality, Pierr turns to Omar, an older man that makes a living out of prostitution, who introduces him to a community that has isolated from Peruvian society willing to find protection from its prejudices.

In Shinto religion, in order to make something sacred, man will tie a rope around it. This sacred quality of the tying can be applied also to Kinbaku, which is an erotic, spiritual, artistic connection between the people who are doing it

The documentary follows the campaign of 6 candidates to the municipal legislative council of the city of Rio de Janeiro (population of approximately 6 million) in Brazil, in the 90 days preceding election day. All of them dispute their first election, but only two of them will be successful.